Comparative assessment of the indigenous-local models of rural housing against sandstorms: A case study of Tembaka and Dehkol villages in Hamoun County

 The flow of air in Sistan Region depends on the direction, speed and continuation of the winds known as “120-day winds of Sistan”. These winds blow over the settlements of the region every year from late May to late September with the dominant direction of NW-SE. During the recent years, there has been a notable increase in the amount wind-blown dust and sand in the residential areas due to climate change and the drying up of Hamoun Lake in the proximity of these settlements.Identification of and proper response to the behavior and mechanism of natural phenomena in Sistan, especially sandstorms, based on physical-structural plans can have several social, economic and physical benefits for the residents of the region. This study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-statistical in terms of methodology. The statistical population of the study consisted of Tembaka and Dehkol villages in Hamoun County. According to the latest population and housing census, a total of 703 people constituting 244 households live in these two villages. The sample population consisted of 242 individuals and the size of the sample population was calculated by the Cochran’s formula. The one-sample t-test was used to analyze the research findings. The results showed that the high degree of air dryness/low humidity (mean value=4.265) is the most important reason for the formation of blowing sands in the studied villages. The most tangible effect of the blowing sands on the physical fabric of the rural settlements is the formation of heavy dusts in the direction of the prevailing winds (mean value=4.221). Construction of houses away from the path of the blowing sands (mean value=4.228) is the most important strategy to deal with problem. Planting trees, especially tamarisk, in the northern side of the villages’ lands (mean value=4.275) is the most important economic strategy to deal with the problem. Removing the wind-blown sands from the main canals (mean value=3.787) is the most important infrastructural strategy to deal with the problem.